Still texting while driving?

Thomas and Tracey Heaney. Thomas Heaney was seriously injured in Quebec City in September 2011 when a motorist who was texting while driving crashed into him on the side of the road.

PHOTO: Heaney family, handout

Thomas Heaney was seriously injured.

PHOTO: Heaney family, handout

Thomas Heaney was seriously injured.

PHOTO: Heaney family, handout

Survivor story; 'I'm just so happy to be alive. I really mean that'

By RENÉ BRUEMMER, The Gazette

Originally published: December 21, 2011

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Thomas Heaney never heard the tires screech. Just a thud, and the sound of the windshield crumpling.

It was 7: 25 a.m. on a quiet Saturday in September and the 69-year-old retired chef was on the street outside his rented condo in Quebec City, loading his Volvo with luggage and snacks for the drive to Montreal.

A bike-race fanatic since he went to his first event in 1974 and met Tour de France legend Eddy Merckx, Heaney had driven up to Quebec City, an 18-hour trip from his home in Landrum, S.C., for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. It’s one of several races Heaney attends every year in North America and Europe.

The next stop on the race circuit was Sunday in Montreal, and Heaney, who grew up playing hockey in Brooklyn and remembers watching the Canadiens with the Rocket and Beliveau play live at the Forum, was getting an early start to have time to visit the city.

Four racing bikes belonging to Heaney, his wife and their two friends were strapped to the roof rack. Heaney had just finished the last bit of packing, putting in the cooler with some snacks and a Thermos of tea.

The driver door was open, as was the rear passenger door on the driver side, both jutting out into the street. Heaney was standing by the side of the car, at the back. Then he did something he’s convinced saved his life.

The Quebec law prohibiting drivers from having a mobile phone in their hand to talk, email or text while driving came into effect on April 1, 2008. Statistics on the numbers of people who have received $115 tickets and lost three demerit points for doing so indicate it isn’t having much of an effect. It’s much the same across Canada.

In 2009, Montreal police handed out 20,672 tickets for the offence. In 2010 the number dropped slightly to 19,891, but for 2011, the toll was already at 21,184 by Nov. 21.

André Durocher, an inspector with the road safety division of the Montreal police, says the time constraints of an increasingly busy society are partly to blame.

"People are under more and more pressure, so they use their spare time while travelling" to catch up on contacting others, he said.

As a frequent observer of motorist behaviour, Durocher has noticed driver distraction is a growing problem.

"The cellphone is just one among hundreds of distractions," he said. "There are people putting on makeup, shaving, eating breakfast, driving with a dog in their lap – You’ll see people actually reading the newspaper, or worse, reading a paperback – turning the page, taking a look out the front window very quickly, then going back to the page."

During a recent campaign by the Canada Safety Council dubbed "Leave the Phone Alone," council president Émile Therien bemoaned the rise of multi-tasking behind the wheel.

"Drivers eat, use laptop computers, talk on the phone and try to stop their kids from fighting. Any distraction can be dangerous if it takes your attention off the road."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the United States reported there were an estimated 3,092 deaths in distraction-affected crashes in the U.S. in 2010. In response, the National Transportation Safety Board this month called on every state to ban nonemergency use of portable electronic devices for all drivers.

The Mazda and its 20-year-old driver were cruising down St. Paul St. at roughly 50 kilometres an hour. Tire marks indicate the driver started braking heavily about three to four metres before impact, but Heaney never heard the squeal of rubber on asphalt. He did hear and feel "a huge thud," which he later realized was the sound of his back and head caving in the Mazda’s windshield. He believes part of his body, probably his right hand, was torn open by the rear passenger door of his car – they found skin and hair embedded on the inside of the door.

"Gosh darn it," he remembers thinking. "You got hit by a car."

Had he not stepped out a foot from his Volvo just before impact, he’s certain he would have been crushed to death between the two vehicles.

His left ankle broke. His right elbow took off the Mazda’s passenger-side mirror, opening a wide gash requiring 18 stitches. His knee was gashed open, exposing the kneecap. Doctors would have to sew in 40 stitches to close all the wounds.

"From the waist up I felt like there was nothing," Heaney said. "From the waist down I knew I had legs, because I kept trying to stand. Three to four times I tried. Each time I would fall down. Then I would open my eyes and see the curb, and try again. – I guess I was a little bit in shock."

Two men came by and convinced him to stop moving. They called his wife, who came out to find Heaney, who is on blood-thinning medication after suffering a mini-stroke in 2010, lying in a pool of blood. The ambulance came in six minutes.

"I have to say, your medical system, even though it’s socialized, is over the top – it’s phenomenal. The paramedics were very competent people."

One of the paramedics turned to the driver, Heaney remembers.

"You hit him?" the paramedic said.

"Yeah," the driver replied.

"How?"

"Well, I was texting."

Heaney was in hospital by 8: 10 a.m. Doctors took numerous X-rays, but missed the fact his ankle was broken. A plastic surgeon treated his wounds, and said he would likely suffer a nasty scar on the back of his right hand because so much skin was missing. He was out of hospital by 6 p.m. He would make it to Montreal that evening and catch the race on Sunday, then take three days to drive home to South Carolina.

Heaney’s hand ended up healing well, as did his ankle, his appetite returned after the concussion wore off, and he is able to cycle again. As of mid-December, he said his health was back to about 75 per cent.

He considers himself lucky. "I’m just so happy to be alive," he said over the phone from South Carolina. "I really mean that. This is the best part of this horrible occurrence."

He contacted The Gazette after reading an article about the perils of texting while driving, which cited a study that found 14,000 road fatalities in the United States between 2001 and 2007 were attributed to the practice. He bears no animosity to the driver who struck him, although he does have some unkind words for Quebec’s boundless bureaucracy, which is compelling him to fill out "thousands of forms" as he looks to recoup $4,000 in compensation from the provincial automobile insurance board, the Société de l’assurance du Québec, for his ambulance and hospital bills. The driver was fined $115 and lost three demerit points for using a mobile phone while driving.

Durocher of the Montreal police department likens drivers’ reluctance to lay down their cellphones to the decades it took before wearing a seatbelt became common practice.

"It took a long time, a lot of education," he said. "It’s very much a behavioural thing. Now it’s become a natural reaction. Are we there yet with cellphones? Surely not, but we have a lot of educating to do."

Police vigilance can help, but ultimately it’s up to society to change its ways, Durocher said. A recent survey by the Canadian Automobile Association indicates a shift could be near. Ninety-eight per cent of respondents said they considered texting or emailing while driving a serious threat, higher than the number of those who said driving after having a few drinks posed a danger.

"It would be so unfortunate if, in trying to save a couple of minutes, for someone to ruin their life or someone else’s," he said.

"That’s what we have to work on. Because we’re not working with criminals. We’re working with real people."

While travelling with his wife this month Heaney – a father of three and grandfather of five – suddenly had a flash.

"If things had gone just slightly different in Quebec City, instead of enjoying this trip together, I’d be gone and she would be still mourning my death." He contacted The Gazette to send a message, one which he also intends to bring to high schools in his region.

"Think. It’s not bad to text. Just get to the side of the road. Because you’re endangering yourself, and you’re endangering someone else –